Elantris (2005)

An amazingly vivid high fantasy, a brilliant introduction to a mind blowing world, a crazy but easy to follow magic system, and some of the most amazing characters I've read in a long time.

I have so many praises to heap on this book but not the time to write them, and so I suggest you read it for yourself and enjoy. ( )

An amazingly vivid high fantasy, a brilliant introduction to a mind blowing world, a crazy but easy to follow magic system, and some of the most amazing characters I've read in a long time.

I have so many praises to heap on this book but not the time to write them, and so I suggest you read it for yourself and enjoy. ( )

I loved this a lot! It was really fun and interesting and the characters were compelling. Gave me big David Eddings vibes but with a fresh and lively feeling. Made me super excited to read more of his work. ( )

A princess tries to thwart a priest's political schemes, while an exiled prince learns about magic.

3/4 (Good).

The world-building is great. And the story never slows down too much, especially for a 600-page epic that's largely about politics. I had some problems with the ending; a number of plot threads didn't have a satisfying payoff, and a lot of new stuff comes in out of nowhere at the last minute. ( )

I'm at a loss for words. No, seriously. What more can I write that hasn't been written already about this marvellous story? It's stand-alone, that's already very good. A sequel has been thought of for years, but as it has so far not seen the light of day and the present story been wrapped-up pretty well, you can read this without worrying about sequels.

Elantris, city of the gods, or rather, these people has special powers: Aons. Each of these Aons had its own power, design, ... and could only be used when drawn in the air. However, these symbols were also present throughout the city. Elantris was the centre of a constellation, you could say. It was surrounded by 4 other cities, one being Kae. Kae became the new capital of Arelon, when Elantris's magic suddenly disappeared and its people were no longer able to work their magic. As a result, the city's beauty soon vanished, quickly disappearing under large masses of dirt, mud, ... The inhabitants also changed in appearance: they had spots on their skin, their skin didn't shine any more, their hair fell out. But they weren't dead (yet), even though their hearts stopped beating. They were hungry much of the time, even though the food intake wouldn't solve anything, except the craving. Wounds would no longer heal. Everyone had weakened. Many of them even became Hoed, in that they were stuck in a rut, repeating some kind of mantra, like reminiscing the glorious past or whatever occupied their minds.

As Elantris is going through a very dark and dirty period in its existence, life outside continues, albeit with its own problems, both political and religious. Iadon is the first king since the downfall of Elantris. He's a business man, knows practically nothing about ruling a country. Money is what matters; the more, the better. That's also how the rich aristocracy can exist: You get a title (duke, baron, whatever) based on your wealth, thus granting you influence and what not. Iadon doesn't care about religion, so anyone can practice what he wants, and priests are given (more or less) carte blanche. This, however, offers opportunities for a certain Hrathen, who was sent on a mission to convert Arelon, so the Wyrn of Fjorden would be able to expand his territory without much bloodshed.

On a side-note: Iadon treats women as if they're less than nothing. They are to entertain themselves with embroidery or whatever women do. They are not to mingle with politics or other such professions.

Iadon also has a son, Raoden. But he's claimed dead before he even appears in the story. All is kept secret, but officially, Raoden is no more. And yet, the population really loved him, found a great leader and carer in him. Apparently, Raoden was also hit by Reod, that which caused Elantris to fall and its people to become like walking dead. Except that they weren't dead... yet. But that was not important. What mattered was that such people could be locked inside Elantris, which now served as a sort of dumpsite. Until Raoden appeared. Soon enough he realised that wandering around, moaning, etc. would not help at all. So he decided to turn the situation around and make the best of it. New Elantrians were intercepted, as Raoden saw that each of them surely was capable of something (making clothes, cleaning, carving, ...). Little by little, he managed to convince the people to follow his lead, to bring back the glory of Elantris, to show that not all was lost. It took him much effort and convincing, especially the other gangs in the city. Yes, when the going gets tough, people revert to barbarism and gangs, if only to survive.

Raoden was married, by contract, to Sarene, daughter of King Teod. This political marriage was to strengthen the ties between both nations. Sarene is a woman with an opinion. She knows what she wants. She's not exactly a babe, but is one way or another quite attractive, although the men in her own country seem to be blind to her beauty. But she sets sail to Arelon to conclude the marriage, not knowing yet that Raoden is (claimed to be) dead. She can stay with her uncle Riin and his family, who is also one of the high society in Arelon. Little by little, Sarene gets to know the drill, gets to know Iadon, etc. And gets involved in the scheme to dethrone Iadon, because not everyone is happy with his way of ruling.

And so the games begin. Sarene wants to know what happened to her husband-to-be, Raoden, with whom she exchanged many letters prior to their future marriage. She has to learn how to deal with royal life, life at court (socialising with the other women, something she loathes), ... All this in preparation of the aforementioned scheme. Sarene has a big mouth, but is not really a warrior. Especially in the last part of the story, I was a bit disappointed by that, as it contrasted with the earlier image of her, when she was spending her first weeks in Arelon and Kae more specifically.

It isn't until she has to deal directly with Elantris, even spend some time in it (thank you, Hrathen; I didn't see that move coming, at all, even when you spent some time in there for you own reasons), that her determination really peaks.

When at some point Iadon is cleared out of the way (or rather, he seems to have taken care of that himself, after Sarene discovered he was involved in dark rituals, which explained why now and then servants disappeared), all is set in motion for Telrii to become the new king. Religion and politics often go hand in hand. But Telrii lusts after money, he doesn't care about conversion. Hrathen curses him for obstructing his plans. But at the same time, power-hungry and very devoted Dilaf (Hrathen's assistant, so to speak) also has plans of his own, which are divulged only in the last part, when true evil is unleashed. Sanderson sure knows how to keep it all exciting until the last page.

It wouldn't be a good story without the classic "all's well that ends well". Raoden suddenly sees the light, knows what caused Elantris's downfall, and gets to work - thank to some divine intervention? Otherwise he would be no more at that point - to execute what must be done. Elantris is then being attacked by the soldiers and other creatures, by order of Dilaf, who always wanted the Elantrians to be killed off, each and every one of them. Obviously Raoden succeeds into bringing back the light, restoring the power of Elantris and thus restoring the power of the Aons. The Aons could be drawn, but never worked, as something was blocking AonDor, the energy to work with Aons.

Oh, I almost forgot: There are Seons, little flying, intelligent balls (comparable to our drones, you could say) that can be used to communicate with others (who also have their own Seons, obviously), or be used as an assistant to go inform others, to investigate, etc. A little science-fiction, if you will.

The postscript in this edition focuses one more time on Hoid, who seems to have survived the past ten years as a beggar, without being caught. Why this postscript? What's Hoid's part in the downfall of Elantris? Google gave me this link, where this and the city's downfall is discussed.

This anniversary edition contains a few extras: an explanation about the Aons (see also this link), the deleted scenes with Raoden's brother (also available on Sanderson's website, click here), ... Sanderson himself wrote that he absolutely wanted Eton to appear in the story, to claim the throne. But after careful consideration, it was decided to leave it all out, as it would not have benefited the flow of the story at all.

Do read the annotations on Sanderson's website, as they offer quite some insight: click here.

Long story short: heavily recommended! Absolutely! The characters, each with their strengths and faults (like Hrathen and his personal crisis of faith; Sarene who in the end does find love, despite her character; Raoden, not worried about wealth, more about well-being; etc.), the magic system (Aons), the setting, ... One of the best (or better, whatever) SFF-stories I've read so far. ( )